Less than a day before the first Pro Beach Volleyball tournament is to take place on the shores of Brooklyn, Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh slipped out to Chelsea Piers for a quiet workout, away from the competition and away even from her own teammate, Misty May-Treanor.

“It’s emotional out there, it takes a lot out of you. The competition is intense,” she said. “You have to take some time off, clear your head.”

But at 6 feet 2 inches, and with a face and body that have been broadcast across the world, Mrs. Walsh has difficulty laying low. Passersby can’t resist turning their heads as she walks along the piers, wearing big Dior sunglasses, and carrying a tote bag full of volleyballs. Even if she isn’t recognized, there is little doubt that she is an athletic specimen worthy of a good, long look.

The tournament officially started yesterday, but only teams that haven’t yet qualified played against each other. The star players spent the day training and giving interviews on the morning television shows. Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. May-Treanor are ranked first in points for this year’s Association for Volleyball Players Crocs tour.

The top team for the men’s division, Stein Metzger and Michael Lambert, spent part of the day playing beach volleyball in Central Park, near 68th Street. The two men, who went to the same high school in Hawaii and were once competitors when they were at college in California, met up with some friends who had entered the tournament on a wildcard draw. Though the odds were not in the other team’s favor — they were ranked 31 out of 32 — the game was mostly friendly.

Asked about his feelings about playing the first pro beach volleyball tournament ever to take place at Coney Island, Mr. Lambert responded succinctly: “Stoked.”

“We’re part of the rebirth of Coney Island,” he said. Mr. Metzger added: “We’re bringing the California beach lifestyle to New York.”

That lifestyle — in contrast to the late night, less outdoorsy New York lifestyle — means waking up early, getting out in the sun, and staying laid-back, they said. Beach volleyball tournaments are known for their jarringly quick speed of play, but also for the relaxed atmosphere among the spectators.

The players lose a little of their calm when they enter the beach court. This is something that Mr. Metzger said would be a draw for crowds this weekend. At a tournament in Manhattan Beach, Calif., last week, their team had an “epic battle” with a rival team that they said will play out over the next few days, he said.

In each the women’s and the men’s competitions, teams are battling for $250,000 in prize money and the points necessary to make it to the culminating round in Cincinnati. The grand prize is a Tiffany’s trophy and $500,000. (There are also two subsequent tournaments in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, but they aren’t for team points.) Many players have handsome sponsorship contracts that require them to wear temporary tattoos of advertisers. Mr. Lambert had an image of a Visa card on one arm and the Gatorade symbol on the other yesterday.The space where advertisements can be plastered to a player’s body is called “real estate.”

Mrs. Walsh, 28, began her career in the volleyball court at age 10, but it wasn’t until she was 22 that she made a move into beach volleyball. Though the sport is the same, beach volleyball is considered more difficult than indoor volleyball because of the sand. The sand at Coney Island is especially shallow and lets players jump higher, she said, but other places have deep sand that slows you down.

“I grew up thinking I’d be the first girl in the Major League. Then I thought I’d be the first female player in the NBA,” she said. “Beach volleyball was a pleasant surprise.”

Entering beach volleyball was a major phase for Mrs. Walsh, but it doesn’t compare to the transformation her career has had over the last six years. In 2000, Mrs. Walsh had just graduated from Stanford University with a degree in American Studies and a room full of trophies and awards for college volleyball, but she was still relatively unknown to the wider public. After winning the gold medal in Athens, she and her teammate have become celebrated personalities and an image of the burgeoning world of women’s’ sports.

The life is good — one of the top five jobs in the world, Mrs.Walsh said — but the traveling is incessant and photo shoots are especially painful. When the season finishes, she and her husband Casey Jennings, who plays for the third ranked team in the men’s division, will spend more time at their house four blocks from the water in Hermosa Beach, Calif., a place they rarely see these days.